Democrats weren't defeated overwhelmingly. The numbers are coming in - it's the electoral college count that matters (still, for now anyway, if we can't get rid of it.) Trump’s win has been described as resounding. It was closer than you think
The vice president improved on Biden’s margins in some swing states, but Trump swept them all

Despite the popular vote, Harris could have won the 2024 — or at least made it significantly closer — if she had just maintained Biden’s figures in a few key states such as Pennsylvania and Michigan.

This year, Harris lost to Trump by only 780,000 votes in the swing states, compared to 3.2 million nationally under current vote counts. So it would have taken the VP flipping just under one million votes into those areas to be the president-elect today.

It's that win the popular vote but lose the election thing - the electoral college put Trump in the last time. It would have been ironic if it had put Harris in this time.